Sometimes you need a local deli / catering operation to get you through the day. If you’re near Rockville Centre, then you probably are aware of Bialystok & Bloom on Clinton Avenue, a local spot that has outlasted many restaurants that have come and gone.

Cook’s Scratch Kitchen & Bakery, a very popular and well received restaurant located in Northport just announced that they will be opening up a new bakery / cafe be serving all of their fresh-baked pastries along with an abridged lunch menu to assist customers of the shop (and visitors) with their in-store refueling.

The long awaited opening of Sydney’s “Taylor” Made Cuisine has finally ended today as they officially welcome their new location to Westhampton Beach. Just in time for the Memorial Day Weekend crush, Sydney’s, which has been a staple of the area since 1989 is now open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The newly revamped space is a market, restaurant and busy catering operation; a triple threat that will be hard to rival, but delicious to visit.

Occupying the space that was formerly the Golden Pear Cafe in Stony Brook, Crazy Beans is now open for business. The original location, in Miller Place, is still running strong and they’ve been pumping up the new Stony Brook location on Facebook and through social media outreach. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner this is a great day for Stony Brook and for the Long Island early morning food scene. Make sure to stop in and try their coffee, which customers continually rave about.

Stopping by on a whim, in the dead of winter, to The Frisky Oyster in Greenport was as unexpected for us as it was for them. The beloved Greenport restaurant is a mainstay in the sleepy North Fork village and Owner / Chef Robby Beaver, at the helm since 2010, has been the most recent curator of this wonderful location.

Sure, it may be consistently below freezing now and for the past few months, but where others see a reason to stay home and sit in front of the fire, we see an opportunity to get out and try new and exciting yogurt shops. Who else in their right minds would want freezing desserts on a freezing day? We may be in a minority, but we’ll enjoy every chance that we can get. YOLO Yogurt in Roslyn is slower than normal due to the weather conditions, so this is your time to pounce. In the summer months we often have to wait on long lines to pay while our yogurt melts, but this time of year, that is not an issue.

The Oar Seafood Grille has been a Patchogue favorite for (almost) the last 30 years. Waterfront on the Patchogue River and with outdoor dining, all one has to do is enter the restaurant and look up at the ceiling to know that they are about to encounter some wonderful seafood. Oars and paddles line the restaurant and make you just want to jump into a boat and start paddling.

When one gets invited to North Fork Table and Inn in Southold, on Long Island’s North Fork, one drops everything and makes a beeline for the restaurant (and brings a camera with them to catalogue the trip). Such was the case on a recent chilly Sunday afternoon. True to fashion, North Fork Table and Inn lived up to the hype and showed us why they have been one of the top restaurants on Long Island (28 out of 30 for food in ZAGAT) on a consistent basis.